AP News Investigative Report Confirms Ongoing Sexual Violence Structure
De Facto Security Vacuum... Women Carrying Self-Defense Hammers
On the 27th (local time), the Associated Press reported that rampant sexual violence occurred at a U.S. government-supervised Antarctic base, but victims who reported the incidents were ignored or faced disadvantages, revealing a persistent structure of sexual violence.
The problematic location is the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, funded and overseen by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Many employees from multiple contractors, including Leidos, who have research service contracts, reside at this base, with 70% being male.
The base population ranges from 200 to 300 during the Southern Hemisphere winter and reaches about 1,000 in the summer, but only one armed federal law enforcement officer is responsible for security, and there is no local police or detention facility.
Mechanical technician Liz Monerhorn, who reported sexual assault at a U.S. Antarctic base. [Photo by Yonhap News]
The Associated Press exposed the sexual violence structure at the base based on court documents, internal communications, and interviews with related parties.
According to the report, incidents of men sexually assaulting women or threatening their lives occurred frequently within the base, and verbal sexual harassment was common.
However, as it is an isolated community in an extreme environment with virtually no law enforcement system, women who voiced their complaints were ignored or even faced disadvantages.
Reported cases included situations where victims continued working alongside their harassers without separation, cases where rape was downplayed as harassment, and instances where reporting sexual assault crimes led to dismissal.
Mechanic Liz Monerhon said, "I was threatened with sexual violence and even my life by a man I once dated at the base," adding, "With no one to help, I always carried a hammer inside my work clothes or sports bra to protect myself."
She added, "I thought I had to survive. I was ready to swing it whenever he came near, anywhere."
A female food service worker reported to her supervisor that she had been sexually assaulted by a male colleague but was only blamed and was fired two months later. Subsequently, a managerial staff member who tried to rectify the situation was also dismissed after receiving instructions from headquarters not to escalate the issue.
In response to this situation, female workers at the Antarctic base formed a rights protection organization.
As the culture of sexual violence at the Antarctic base became public, Leidos, a tenant company at McMurdo Station, appeared before Congress in December last year and proposed improvements such as "creating peepholes to look outside in employee housing units, restricting master keys that can open multiple doors, and providing additional satellite phones to on-site staff."
Regarding this, Representative Mike Garcia criticized at a hearing, saying, "This is something that should have been done before sending people to Antarctica," calling it a measure that was too late.
Previously, the issue of sexual harassment at U.S. Antarctic bases was revealed through a report by the National Science Foundation (NSF) last year. According to the report, 59% of women at McMurdo Station responded in a survey that they had experienced sexual harassment or assault. Additionally, 72% of women pointed out that these issues occurred because it was Antarctica.
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